FILE - This June 6, 2013 file photo shows a sign outside the National Security Agency (NSA) campus in Fort Meade, Md. A civil rights lawyer says the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is very disappointed that a New York judge has found that a government program that collects millions of Americans' telephone records is legal. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
December 27, 2013 - 8:41 AM
NEW YORK, N.Y. - A federal judge in New York City has ruled that a massive U.S. phone-tracking program is legal.
U.S. District Judge William Pauley issued the decision Friday. He says the program "represents the government's counter-punch" to eliminate al-Qaida's terror network by connecting fragmented and fleeting communications.
The ruling notes the terrorist attacks in 2001 and how the National Security Agency's phone data-collection system could have helped investigators connect information before the attacks occurred.
The judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU did not immediately respond to a message for comment.
News from © The Associated Press, 2013